Fantasy Football Week 10 Sleepers: Buy Drake London’s consistency, Tyler Boyd trending up and more

The Bengals got bad news Friday when Tee Higgins (hamstring) was ruled out for Week 10 against the Texans. Just when he was starting to get hot, Higgins now has to miss his second game of the season, but hopefully he can return for Week 11 at Baltimore on Thursday night.

With Higgins out in Week 10, some things change for Cincinnati. For starters, you’re still starting Joe Burrow without hesitation. Higgins missed Week 5 at Arizona with injured ribs, but Burrow still scored 29.4 Fantasy points. He should be fine against Houston, and the Texans allow an average of 18 Fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks for the season.

Ja’Marr Chase (back) is expected to play, and he was amazing against the Cardinals without Higgins. Chase had 15 catches for 192 yards and three touchdowns on 19 targets against Arizona, and hopefully something similar happens against the Texans. Houston is No. 5 in fewest Fantasy points allowed to opposing receivers, but there’s no way I’m benching Chase if he’s active. He still has top-five upside in all leagues.

Now, without Higgins, we could see a trio of players more involved, and all three should be considered sleepers, to various degrees. We’re looking at Tyler Boyd, Trenton Irwin and Irv Smith Jr.

Boyd didn’t have a huge game against the Cardinals in Week 5 when Higgins was out, but Boyd saw seven targets and finished with six catches for 39 yards. He comes into Week 10 with at least 13.6 PPR points in two of his past three games, and I like him as a No. 3 Fantasy receiver against Houston.

Irwin was a star when Higgins was out against Arizona with eight catches for 60 yards on 10 targets. We’ll see if his role increases against Houston, but I like Irwin as a potential No. 3 Fantasy receiver in deeper leagues. He hasn’t done much since that Cardinals game (two catches for 24 yards on two targets in three games), and rookie Andrei Iosivas could also get some attention. But Fantasy managers in 14-team leagues or larger should consider Irwin as an option first.

Finally, Smith might have the best matchup of all these guys. The Texans are No. 1 in most Fantasy points allowed to opposing tight ends, and Smith just had his best game of the season with the Bengals with three catches for 26 yards and a touchdown on four targets for 11.6 PPR points. I like Smith as a low-end starter in all leagues.

We’ll see how the Bengals perform without Higgins. Burrow and Chase are must-start options, and hopefully one — or all — of Boyd, Irwin and Smith step up with the increased opportunity.

Now, let’s look at some other sleepers I like for Week 10. Hopefully these players will deliver in a big way to help your lineups. And if you’re looking for my Week 10 DFS plays, you can find my million-dollar contest tournament lineups for both DraftKings and FanDuel over at SportsLine.